Judge Urged To Block Trump From Targeting Media Law Firms

Media organizations are pressing a federal judge to permanently overturn an executive order from President Donald Trump targeting Perkins Coie, a law firm that represented Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and pursued Voting Rights Act enforcement cases. In a friend-of-the-court brief submitted Thursday to U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., over 60 media advocates and outlets—including the Daily Beast, the Intercept, the Center for Investigative Reporting, PEN America, Free Press, and Public Knowledge—contend that the order, if enacted, could deter lawyers from taking on media clients.

The groups warn that upholding the order would intimidate law firms from defending news outlets in disputes with the government, citing the historic clash between the Nixon administration and The New York Times and Washington Post over the Pentagon Papers as an example. “The New York Times and Washington Post relied on some of America’s most renowned First Amendment lawyers to publish the Pentagon Papers,” the brief states. “If this Executive Order survives, many attorneys will hesitate to take on cases that directly challenge the President, fearing repercussions for clients with government dealings.”

Trump’s March order seeks to terminate federal contracts with Perkins Coie and bar its lawyers from federal buildings. The firm has challenged the order, arguing it breaches the First Amendment by punishing them for their perspective. Last month, Judge Howell issued a temporary restraining order halting its enforcement. Perkins Coie has since requested a permanent injunction.

The media coalition asserts that news organizations and their legal counsel are likely next in Trump’s crosshairs. “If this order stands, it’s almost inevitable that a similar one will target law firms representing the press,” they write, pointing to Trump’s well-documented hostility toward media. They note that between June 16, 2015, and January 8, 2021, Trump attacked the press over 2,000 times, and the current administration has already acted against outlets, such as excluding the Associated Press from events for refusing to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” (The AP won a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit over this, though it’s not yet in effect.)